HK groups want ‘unlikely China exit’ as vote looms
After Brexit, Hong Kong dreams of own version
HONG KONG:
Britain had its Brexit. Now some in Hong Kong are dreaming of their own version. As the Asian financial center prepares for legislative elections in September, a new wave of radical political activists is planning to join the campaign, including some who advocate the once-unthinkable idea of independence from China. Separatist sentiment is largely on the fringe but has gained momentum recently, fueled by public fears that Hong Kong’s identity is being eroded by mainland China’s growing influence.
It has the potential to turn a normally humdrum vote into an embarrassment for Beijing by highlighting the challenges the Chinese Communist Party faces as it seeks to exert control over the freewheeling former British colony. The Hong Kong government has tried to counter the activists. Over the past week election officers have warned candidates they must pledge to uphold Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, including a section stating the city is an “inalienable” part of China.
Some candidates have refused to sign that part of the nomination form because they say it amounts to political screening. Others have launched legal challenges but the High Court declined to rule before Friday’s deadline. Hong Kong became part of China in 1997 after more than a century of British rule. As part of the deal paving the way for Beijing to take control under a 50-year transition period, it guaranteed Hong Kong could have considerable autonomy and keep the rule of law and its own legal and financial system.
Beijing will never accept Hong Kong independence. During a visit earlier this year, Zhang Deijiang, the Chinese Communist Party official responsible for overseeing the city, warned groups “flying the banner of Hong Kong independence” against trying to “override the law.” China’s nationalist Global Times newspaper last month blasted independence as “a joke.” It’s hard to gauge the true extent of support in Hong Kong for independence, which has become a serious political topic only this year, discussed on news sites, Facebook groups and at universities.
In a rare poll on the topic released Sunday by Chinese University of Hong Kong , some 17.4 percent of Hong Kongers support independence after 2047, with support strongest among the young. At the same time, less than 4 percent of the 1,010 people surveyed thought independence was even possible. The poll was conducted by phone July 6-15 and has a margin of error of 3.1 percent. “The Hong Kong government and the central government in Beijing appear to be deeply concerned about the possible entry of the radical localists into the legislative chamber,” said Sonny Lo, a political analyst at The Education University of Hong Kong. The term localists refers to small, incipient factions that reject mainland China’s rising influence, which they fear threatens the city’s unique Cantonese-based culture. Recent mysterious detentions of five Hong Kong booksellers by mainland authorities have fed concerns about Chinese law enforcement’s overreach. — AP